My mother and father lived through –endured– the Great Depression.  The experience changed them forever.  Although I never wanted for the essentials as a child, Mom 'n' Dad always admonished about being wasteful.

What America is enduring these days will probably not leave scars like those days in the late 1920's… but make no mistake… this current mess is a ganglion that will sink its tendrils in us all… and I mean ALL…in mostly negative ways.

Cinching up the belt is not entirely a bad idea, though.  Most of us have been cavalier with the cash, bungling with the budget, and free with the finances when we could've been more prudent.

Herewith, then, my 5-point list to help Voice Actors Survive the Financial Fallout: 

[Read more...]

Acting coach Bob Fraser has never steered me wrong.  I've posted here often, re-purposing from his blogs and e-mails, his great suggestions on life, acting, business, and just plain surviving.

A recent e-mail he sent me, though, offers a pretty good deal if you're willing to sign-up for his newletter.  I don't see a downside, really, and in return, you get, well… just HERE to see what's involved.

While you're at it, click HERE to get a taste of the depth of resources he offers.

CourVO

Fellow voice acting blogger Bobbin Beam has discovered a new voice over marketplace.  Strange name, but those crazy Teutonic cousins of ours!

Find out about Bodalgo, by clicking to her blog HERE.
(Hint: if you're SaVoa, you'll REALLY want to make sure to read her blog).

Be sure to put Bobbin's Blog on your RSS feed.  She's always got great stuff to say.

CourVO

Bits of wisdom that come from a persistent grazing of online resources. 

I dunno…I'd say 80% is just there 'n' gone…but every once in a while, you find a gem.  Like this from Bill on the Yahoo VO Forum on the topic of delivering a true read:

It was Q & A time, and one actor in the audience asked of a successful
commercial director/producer: "How do I know whether to do a hard sell,
or a medium or soft sell?"

The director said, "I don't want actors to sell in most of my projects.
I want real people. And that doesn't mean that I cast real people,
they will screw up my production schedule. I cast really well trained
actors who can disguise the skills they have learned in their careers.
No Shakespeare, please."

Amen.  We don't emulate others.  We bring the best of OURSELVES to the read.  It may feel inadequate compared to someone with deep "pipes" but it may be just what the client is looking for.
_____________________

Twits are people who subscribe to Twitter.com.  I've been keeping an eye on this phenomenon for months, participating only nominally.  But since attending the Blog World and New Media Expo, I'm going whole hog.  Twitter is hard to describe, but it's probably best characterized as "micro-blogging".  You only get 140 characters per post.  You "follow "others, and others "follow" you.  Stephanie Ciccarelli of VOICES.com is one of the most prolific twits I've noticed in the the VO world.

Post as often as you want.The outcome can be mindless, crucial, periodic, thoughtful, mundane, considerate, timely or confusing.  Most people who try it get hooked.  I'm about there.  If you want to follow the minutiae of my life, you can follow: "COURVO" (big surprise). Stephanie Ciccarelli is STEPHCICCARELLI.

BTW, if you want, there's a whole cottage industry springing up around tweaking Twitter.  My favorites are Tweader, and Twitteroo.
______________________

Nits are what you pick, and I don't have any to pick right now, but "nits" rhymed wth "Bits" and "Twits" in the title…so here it is.  Nits can be details, too, and one of the details that seems to be endlessly debated in the Voice Acting world lately is whether you need an agent to be successful.

My friend September Leach weighed in on that discussion with a recent thought:

I have to add that getting an agent isn't all it's cracked up to be. I
have quite a few all over the world and I still get the vast majority
of my work from my website and repeat business. As much as some loathe
V123 and Voices, I get a good bit from both of them as well. It seems
to be a well-guarded secret that even once you have some agents, you
still have to hustle to get work. I once heard someone say that having
a agent is still like auditioning through the pay-to-play website,
only now you get turned down for higher-paying jobs! ;) If you don't
have the street cred to land big agents yet, take a look in smaller
markets like Philly, St.Louis, Phoenix. Once you get some of the
smaller ones, it helps get your foot in the door.

Thanks September!  Your perspective helps others (me too!).

CourVO